Peanut butter chocolate chip cookies

2 cups natural peanut butter

2 cups honey

2 eggs

2 cups chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Combine all ingredients and spoon onto cookie sheet.

3. Bake for 12-15 minutes.

Kale, roasted beet and sweet potato salad

3 peeled and diced sweet potatoes

1 peeled and diced beet

olive oil

maple syrup

cinnamon 

nutmeg

5 garlic cloves

pinch sea salt

pinch black pepper

1 bunch kale

2 avocados

4 diced carrots

1 can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained

Dressing:

1 avocado

1/2 cup olive oil

juice of 1 lemon

pepper

2 tsp. honey, or to taste

roasted garlic

4 scallions

1. Place diced sweet potatoes, beets and garlic on rimmed oven sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and maple syrup. Sprinkle with cinnamon, fresh nutmeg, pepper and salt. Roast in a 425 degree oven for 20-25 minutes.

2. While that is cooling, mix all the ingredients for the dressing with a hand mixer or food processor or blender.

3. Chop kale into fine strips, place in bowl and massage with a little olive oil.

4. Add chickpeas, carrots, avocado, cooled sweet potatoes and beets. Toss with dressing and serve!

My whole family LOVED this salad!!

Christmas Menu 2011

This was an epic year for our food menu. Everyone liked it! We had 4 adults and 5 kids who enjoyed all of the meal which is quite remarkable for us :). Before I forget it here it is-

Garlic Prime Rib - Here are my modifications :). I used a lot of fresh thyme as opposed to dried. I also used ground peppercorns. As for my cooking method, this was totally not planned but because we celebrated Christmas in a kitchen I was not familiar with we had a hard time working the oven properly. So I seared it at 500 degrees for 20 minutes and then the oven would turn off. Luckily we had a great meat thermometer and just left it in the oven until it reach 130 degrees. Essentially we did the cooking method of searing and then cooking for an hour and then turning off the oven and letting it sit in the oven for 2-3 hours. It took a lot longer than I had planned but the final result was amazing!!

Twice baked potatoes- I was able to make these ahead of time and freeze them and reheat on the day. They were great!

Pear and Pomegranate Salad- for this salad I just bought a nice champagne salad dressing although the one in the recipe sounds amazing- I really just needed to save time and a mess!

Green bean casserole- Just the standard version.

Christmas ribbon jello- Layers of red, white and green jello!

Hawaiian rolls

Pumpkin Pie

Apple Pie

Tomato Bruschetta

2 tomatoes, chopped
1 small white onion, choppped
10 leaves of fresh basil
dash of sea salt
dash of freshly ground peppercorns
1 teaspoon garlic powder or fresh
drizzle of evoo
drizzle of balsamic vinegar

1. Combine all the ingredients and enjoy!

We love this served with toasted artisan bread

Tomato and sausage pasta

2 package penne pasta
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 chicken or turkey sausage links, sliced
1/2 cup chopped onion
8 small tomatoes or 4 large tomatoes
3 cups of spinach
1/2 cup white wine
1 pinch red pepper
2 tablespoons freshly chopped basil
pinch of sugar
4 ounces feta cheese
4 ounces Parmesan cheese
4 ounces mozzarella

1. Cook pasta to al dente.

2. While that is cooking, saute sausage in olive oil and garlic. Add onion and cook until onion in translucent.

3. Add tomatoes and spinach and cook until spinach just starts to wilt.

4. Add wine, red pepper flakes, basil and sugar and cook for 10 minutes.

5. Add the tomato mixture to the the pasta and add the cheese. Stir to combine and serve.

Black Bean and Quinoa Chili

This is super yummy!

1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons sherry
2 red bell peppers, chopped
2 cans of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup spinach
1 cup frozen corn
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
1 tablespoon minced chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1. Bring the quinoa and water to a boil in a saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the quinoa is tender and the water has been absorbed- about 15 to 20 minutes.

2.  While the quinoa is cooking, heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions and after a couple of minutes add the minced garlic. Deglaze the pan with the sherry and then add the chili powder and cumin and cook for about a minute. Stir in the peppers, spinach, corn, tomatoes, jalepeno, chipotle pepper, black beans, and oregano and saute for 5 minutes. Stir in can of chicken broth and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer 10-15 minutes.

3. Stir in the quinoa and sprinkle with cilantro.

4. Serve with cheese or sour cream or nothing! The spicy level can be adjusted by just omitting peppers.

Roasted Veggie Fritatta

1/2 yellow pepper
1/2 red pepper
1/2 white onion
8 eggs
1 tbs water
3 tbs chopped, fresh cilantro
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Chop peppers and onion (you really can use whatever veggies you have on hand). Place on baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and a little black pepper and sea salt and roast in oven for around 15 minutes.
3. Whisk eggs and water together. Add chopped cilantro,veggies and mozzarella and bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes and enjoy!